


A Long Winters Hunt

by Candidus_Lupus_Full_Moon



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Yuletide Spark Exchange 2017
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 16:57:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13275858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candidus_Lupus_Full_Moon/pseuds/Candidus_Lupus_Full_Moon
Summary: With the stressful Holiday season coming up Gil is tasked by Agatha to be the Master of ceremonies for an old holiday tradition for the Jägermonsters. It goes exactly how one would expect it would.





	A Long Winters Hunt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sociopathbrony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sociopathbrony/gifts).



> This is my Gift to Sociopathbrony. I am sorry it's late but I am a champion procrastinator. Hopefully, this hits your desire for strange Mechanicsburg traditions and the Jägers. Thanks as well to the Yuletide Spark Exchange.

The winter holiday season in Mechanicsburg was a long one, starting with Hanukkah (if it started before the first of December) and ending with the Twelfth Night with some Roman Saturnalia- as well as a culmination of others- thrown in between. This meant that the months of November, December and January were a busy one for the Heterodyne and her compatriots as each of them, were acting masters of ceremonies for all the feasts and parties of the varying traditions.

Agatha, as Lady Heterodyne, would be spending most of her days in various places of worship around Mechanicsburg helping induct new religious leaders for the town. This was Mechanicsburg’s very first holiday season after being unfrozen and as such each religion wanted their representative installed before the festivities could begin. She would be seeing a lot of the Red Cathedral in the upcoming days, much to her displeasure. Thus she would have very little time to head all of the various ceremonies, so a bit of delegation was in order.

While Agatha was the appointed officiant for all the main events the rest of her little family wouldn’t be able to escape the holiday madness. Tarvek had been chosen to be Saturnalicius princeps; meaning he got to head the traditional day of role reversal. Well, that and cause general chaos by giving silly orders that have to be obeyed. Gil was personally looking forward to seeing him in a toga giving ridiculous instructions. The day of role reversal was Gill’s favorite part of the winter celebrations and nothing was more apt than having composed scheming Tarvek be forced to play the fool.

Von Zinzer had been chosen as Lord of Misrule, which is very similar to Tarveks role in that he is to act as a King for the Minion population of the town. It also includes getting to mock Agatha, heading the town feast, and leading the dancing. He was the head dancer for the large dance performed in the center of town that and having to perform the dances with his chosen partner was a bonus. Gill was looking forward to seeing Violetta in a party dress dancing alongside the chief minion in all their resplendent glory. 

No one was spared having holiday duties. Zeetha had been chosen to wear a crown of candles; Higgs was going to light the tree; Krosp would get to fight the rat king in a dance; Violetta was putting the Mechanicsburg Madrigal together; even the Jägers had been conscripted to wear uniforms- which Tarvek had designed- making them all look like nutcrackers. They even carried working toy rifles which, when fired, produced a popping noise. He might have been the tiniest bit jealous at that.

It seemed that everyone had a role to play in the festivities, well, all but one person, Gilgamesh Wulfenbach - heir to the Wulfenbach barony, keeper of the Pax Transilvania, Consort to the Heterodyne, Prince of Skiffander and Very Smart Guy. To him, it simply seemed that he’d been left out, though he soon would be proved very wrong.

It was the first day of December and Gill had been sitting down to breakfast with Agatha and Tarvek, hoping for a quiet morning with his paramours -which included his coffee. Those dreams had been thoroughly dashed by finding the two of them at the table arguing over what Agatha would wear during which ceremonies while their breakfast went cold.

Currently on the table was her meeting the Corbettite Monks. Agatha wanted to thank them and offer apologies for all that killer train nonsense and Tarvek wanted her to look good while doing it.

He had just managed to get a piece of toast in his mouth before Tarvek thrust a sheet of paper in his face with a grumble. “Gil, in your opinion which of these would look best on Agatha?”

Blinking to try and focus on the paper, he raised his hand to push it out of his face with a grumble of his own “Not all of us need glasses you know.” 

Quite a few dress designs were scattered about the table, overlapping with notes containing both her and Tarvek’s handwriting. The two current contenders were a striped number made to invoke the monk’s signature robe, featured on the page Tarvek had so kindly thrust in his face not a moment before, and the other was a green one with red accents to invoke the holly and ivy theme, on a page Agatha held at a respectful distance. This isn’t even mentioning all the other designs cluttered on the table that he couldn't see.

Gil eyed the design that had been shoved unceremoniously in his face. Tarvek’s contender was apparently the green and red number.

“Why the need for so many dresses anyway. Can’t she wear just one or two for the whole month?”

The looks he got in response from both Agatha and Tarvek seemed to promise his slow and painful death at this suggestion.

“I can’t just wear one or two dresses; each festival has different traditions and I have to be properly dressed for all of them.” Agatha looked on the verge of pulling her hair out but she continued “Everyone is going to be watching me! It has to be perfect! They are all expecting things from me...”

“Gil calling you a philistine is setting the bar too low in this instance,” Tarvek said turning to look at him rather than Agatha. “If she wears the same dress it is a huge disaster. People will be looking at what Agatha wears to set the tone of next year's fashion trends.” He spoke like this was common knowledge. It wasn’t though; Gil had always worn what was the most comfortable at the time—or clothes that had been picked out by his father's men. Clothes at least to him should be functional and comfortable the rest didn’t matter much when you lost as many pants as he did.

He waved his hand at the mess on the table “I still think this is all a bit much though. But, for what it's worth, I like the green one the best.”

Agatha seemed to be revitalized at this and pulled herself off the table with a shout and waving hands in Tarvek’s direction “See!!! He agrees with me!!! Your designs are stunning but I refuse to wear something with that many stripes.” She then pats Gill on the arm “Thanks, I have been trying to change his mind for the last twenty minutes. He sees reason when you speak it and I am glad I won't have to wear that monstrosity to the fudge tasting.”

Meanwhile, all Gill was thinking was–Twenty minutes. They have been having this conversation for twenty minutes... Their breakfast must be stone cold now.

“A fudge tasting warrants a twenty-minute discussion of clothes and not eating your breakfast?” He looks down at their plates covered in stone cold eggs and soggy toast “your breakfast has gone cold!”

Agatha and Tarvek blink in confusion before taking one look at their plates and pushing them aside. No one wanted to eat congealed eggs, epically not hungry sparks. They both covered their looks of embarrassment quickly enough but it didn't change that fact that they had been caught out neglecting their needs by Gil of all people. They were better than that, or so they thought.

“I’ll call for some more breakfast,” Agatha said sheepishly while sending her little clanks to the kitchen. “Tarvek what kind of jam do you want for your toast?”

Tarvek, who at this point, went back to contemplating Agatha’s schedule simply replied with “Current” before making changes to the dress Agatha, and by extension, Gil had chosen.

Once a new breakfast had been placed before them and Gil had collected most of the papers–save for the one Tarvek was working on, much to his displeasure– and they all managed to eat in relative quiet.

The conversation was nonexistent save for a “pass the pepper” from Tarvek, as all three of them were caught up in their own heads.

This feeling of tranquil domicility wasn’t meant to last though, no matter how much he wanted it to. Normal would eventually rear its ugly head in the form of a blue and silver explosion seen from the outside the dining room’s expansive windows, followed by Van’s glitter-covered personage bursting through the doors.

He quickly slammed the doors shut as if they would keep out whatever horrors lay beyond (Gil was secretly hoping for a glitter cannon of some sort) before turning to the table at large and shouting “Lady Heterodyne! Please, tell me that you have assigned someone to head the annual Winter Hunt.”

All three of them look on in abject horror as Van, after his proclamation, slid down the door in a sparkly lump. Agatha rushed over to help him with Tarvek slightly behind muttering about glitter being some sort of easily transmitted disease. Regardless of his feelings about glitter, he managed to catch up to Agatha and help her haul Van to his feet and into the chair that Gill had pulled out for him.

Van slumped over and proceed to cover the wooden table with a fine sheen of blue and silver glitter. He took a long gasping breath before speaking “Please tell me some of these plans include the Hunt”

Tarvek shot Agatha a confused look over Van’s sparkly hair. She responded with a quick shake of her head presumed by Gill to be negative. Tarvek responded with a nod in his direction, which caught Gill off guard and, before he could respond with a ‘no not me’ hand gesture, Agatha’s eyes lit up and offered Tavrek an encouraging nod. By this time Gil had managed to gather his wits by putting up a silent protest of his own but his doom had been sealed. It had been sealed so well that he could hear the foreboding ringing of the Doom Bell along with its feeling of aforementioned doom.

Agatha either didn’t see or care about his violent protesting hand waving because she proceeded to pat Van on the back loudly declaring “Don’t worry about anything Vanamonde. Your lady has you covered.”

Vanamonde proceeds to shake his head, sending glitter everywhere causing Tarvek to curse it existence before speaking in a defeated tone “You forgot didn’t you.”

Gill chuckled as the deadpan statement caused not only Agatha but Tarvek as well to sputter in indignation. Tarvek had been managing her schedule while she looked up all the old historical details about the festivals that had been forgotten in the library. It was a two person job for an almost two-month-long festival. The fact that they had overlooked one in their planning was to be expected.

A weary sigh came from Agatha as she sat down in the chair next to Van. Tarvek sat down too with a dull thump of body meeting wood. Gil preferred to stand so that he could intermittently rub the shoulders of his lovers as they talked, evidently setting him up for something he wasn’t sure he wanted but would do for them anyway.

Agatha opened the discussion with “I looked all over the Castle library but never read anything about a winter hunt. What is it?”

Vanamonde who had decided that sitting up was not worth the effort spoke to the table “My Lady, of course, it wouldn't be in the library. The Winter Hunt (Gill could hear the capital letters as he spoke) is an event for the Jägerkin.” He paused to let that sink in before continuing “It is their way to mark the end of the year. This unwritten tradition has been around for as long as there have been Jägers to practice it.”

Tarvek looked impressed “ It’s been going on that long?”

Van nodded “the only break was after the destruction of the Castle and the loss of old Lords Heterodyne. While your father and uncle didn’t care much for the Jägermonsters they did continue the Winter Hunt as an offer of good will to them.” Gill could hear the sentiment, with the little time they were with us unspoken in his words.

Agatha groaned it was one more thing on top of her overstuffed schedule it was all very important but this, this was Very Important. Tarvek deflated a bit too, he wasn’t as noticeable as Agatha had been but Gil could read the both of them easily as schematics. The Jägers had been instrumental in freeing the town and at times keeping them safe and sane. They too deserved their day of merrymaking and well hunting, whatever that entailed. He hoped it wasn't the usual kind.

It might appear that Gil wasn’t helping out his obviously overtaxed lovers with their planning but he had been. He did what little they allowed him to do. Both knew he cared little for all this and after being given a bit of free rein from his father, who was back as head of the Wulfenbach Empire, because of the copy that had been put in his head. His father had given him a chance to live for a bit without all the political machinations. This wasn’t out of the goodness of his own heart however, such a decision had been come to with the aid of a certain War Queen showing up and beating some liberal sense into her husband's head.

So Gil had been freed from ruling his own empire and left to live his own life of sorts with orders from his mother to recover from her husband's stupid plans. Both Agatha and Tarvek weren't so lucky to have living parents to take over their empires for them--even though Gil had his unceremoniously thrust upon him-- they were left to run their empires themselves. Shure they had help but the main governance and decisions had to come from them.

The two of them had been incredibly stressed Agatha rebuilding a shattered home and Tarvek running multiple plots against his family for the throne of the Storm King. They had picked away at Agatha’s problems but Tarvek’s own succession dilemma was a hard-won fight though helping the Heterodyne in her own burg was helping his popularity over his cousin.

Gil stopped rubbing Tarvek’s tense shoulders to address Vanamonde breaking the sullen silence-- though technically Tarvek broke it with his small whine at the lack of massage “What does the Winter Hunt entail and where do we find out more”

Vanamonde perked up at someone finally showing interest again “Most of the rituals of the Hunt are Heterodyne secrets but I am sure whomever Agatha appoints as the Master of the Hunt could go down to Mamma Gkika's and learn them in her stead.” He shared a look with Gil before continuing “The secrets of the Hunt aren't quite the Heterodyne only kind.”

Gil ran a hand through his hair “Anything else I should know as Master of the Hunt or do I have to get drunk before finding out the rest of it.”

Van continued excitedly “ The Seneschal is only privy to a few select details but I will tell you what I can.”

Gil tried to hold back a sigh “Before we have this conversation I need more coffee. Anyone else, want some?” He was greeted with three affirmatives and as if reading his mind one of Agatha’s little clanks came pushing a coffee cart piled high with not only coffee but pastries as well.

Van took a sip of his coffee before talking “ Like I stated before there are only a few details that I am privy to but they are important ones. First, there must be exactly thirteen hats; one made by her ladyship and the others made by people chosen by the Master. These hats are the most important part of the hunt as they are the prizes. And when I say made I do mean made. They must be designed or handmade by the person to reflect the personality of the maker.”

This was all shaping up to be a lot of work. He rubs his hand over his face. What was he getting himself into?

“Next there should be some average hats made as well but those can be made by a milliner in town. The total number of hats should equal the number of Jägers participating. The exact number can be obtained on your trip to the bar.”

Well, at least he would have some help.

“Finally all the hats are soaked in a version of the Jägerbräu tailored for this instance. After this you will have to ask the Jägers” he finished then he drained his coffee and poured himself another.

That was it. Seriously, that couldn't be it. It was shaping to be a long night at the bar for him.

Agatha was equally a gashed because she asked a little desperately “ Wait, you have never seen this done before.”

“No,” he answered honestly “it is all in all a private affair only for the Jägers, the Heterodyne and whomever he or she chooses to make the other twelve hats.” He nibbled on a pastry ignoring the bit of glitter that had fallen on it. “Presumably Father and Grandfather attended but I was not allowed to attend. This will be my first time so long as your Master extends me the invention of making one of the hats.”

“Is asking the Seneschal part of the tradition as well?” Tarvek asked

Vanamonde grinned toothily at him “one of the many unwritten ones yes.”

Gill bit into a biscuit and took a long sip of coffee. “So is there a special way you need to be asked or can I just order you to do it?”

“You may bequeath me with such an honor by saying, I Gilgamesh Master of the Winter Hunt charge you Vanamonde von Mekkhan to be one of the Twelve Heralds of the Winter Hunt. You, of course, don’t have to charge your self or the Lady Heterodyne.”

“I thought there were thirteen members, not twelve.”

“The Heterodyne is normally the Master of the Hunt and they would charge the twelve heralds but we are breaking with tradition here. So with the three of us charged you only have ten left.”

“Nine” Gill corrected “I Gilgamesh Master of the Winter Hunt charges Tarvek Sturmvoraus to be one of the Twelve Herald's of the Winter Hunt.”

Tarvek for his credit only protested a little “You of all people are going to give me more duties on the top of the ones I am already undertaking?”

“My Prince doth protest too much; I can see it in your eyes you want to design more clothes. It releases your stress and keeps you occupied.”

Tarvek threw himself on his pile of papers with a final sigh, “wake me up when this is all over.”

“If it makes you feel any better the Master and the Heralds will need costumes as well,” Van said with a shrug.

Gil proceeds to laugh which released the underlying tension in the air and soon the others were joining in.

With tension finally released and his mission completed Van stood up, shook himself (resulting in a sparkly cloud) and made his way back to the door. He then opened the door before pausing on the threshold.Then with a booming shout addressed the crowd of Jägers who had been waiting for such an announcement.

“Your Master of the Winter Hunt will be Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.”

There was a thunderous answering cry of “Vith de grace uf de Master ve hunt.”


End file.
